William Tyler
Witchcraft and The Enlightenment

In the 16th and 17th centuries authorities across Europe became convinced of the presence of witches. Dreadful punishments were employed to deal with this issue. However, the ideas of the Enlightenment gradually forced people to take a more realistic view of the so-called problem. During the 18th century, to all intents, belief in witchcraft began to wither, except in deeply rural areas unreached by the educational revolution.